Nissle’s encounter with Theo is both an assassination attempt and a sudden exposure of the Demon King concealed within him. Nissle believes she has cornered a vulnerable human; instead, her attack gives Malthios the opening to reclaim their shared body and kill her, leaving Theo to confront what that violence means to him.

Causes and Background

Theo’s secret is a source of constant danger. He knows that friendship cannot protect him if others discover what he is, and even after settling in Leafel as a healer he keeps that possibility in mind. His growing connections to the town do not erase the risk: the more people come to rely on him, the more there is to lose if his identity is exposed. Earlier, Cargo directly asks whether Theo will tell the others that he is a demon spawn, bringing the concealed truth into the open between them without making it public.

The danger becomes immediate after Luc is poisoned. Nissle later explains that she believed poisoning the Hero would be a reliable way to draw Theo out, because she had learned that he was Luc’s lover. Her information came from Luvel, who had mentioned that the demons recovered a trinket pointing to the relationship. Luvel never returned to report further. Nissle’s visit thus connects the poisoning of Luc, the evidence identifying Theo as his lover, and Luvel’s disappearance into one deliberate effort to reach Theo.

The Confrontation

The encounter follows a fight with dire wolves. While gathering nettles away from the others, Theo senses that he is being watched, stops, and calls Nissle by name. She drops from a tree in front of him. Her black eyes have slit pupils that glow purple; a jagged horn rises from her forehead, a scarf covers the lower half of her face, and pale lavender feathered wings mark her as a demon. Bottles and pouches hang from the belt at her waist.

Nissle identifies Theo as the Hero’s lover and makes clear that she came to kill him. She is also searching for Luvel, who has not returned. Theo answers that Luvel is dead and that he killed them. Nissle rejects the claim and lunges at him. The exchange lasts only moments, but the accusation and answer expose the immediate stakes: Theo has already defended himself against one demon, and Nissle intends to make him pay for it.

Malthios Takes Control

At Theo’s call, Malthios’s power surges through their body. Horns grow from Theo’s temples and wings from his shoulders as Malthios takes control without hesitation. He seizes Nissle by the throat and slams her to the ground. The transformation makes the concealed arrangement visible: Theo is not merely a human healer facing a demon, but the host of the Demon King.

Nissle recognizes him and begs for forgiveness, saying that she did not know who he was. Malthios answers that her ignorance does not excuse what she did: she hurt someone Theo holds very dear. He also reminds her that Luvel made the same mistake by picking a fight, and tells Nissle that she can imagine what happened to them. The power dynamic reverses completely. Nissle arrived intending to kill Theo; once Malthios emerges, she is the one at his mercy, and the authority of the Demon King is enough to make her recognize him even as she pleads.

Malthios crushes Nissle’s throat. Theo experiences the blood running over their fingers and finds the sensation deeply unpleasant; Nissle’s body then dissolves into shadows, as Luvel’s had. Malthios stands and examines their claws. His remark that it is strange that demons all bleed the same color turns the aftermath toward a question of shared nature, rather than leaving the killing as a simple victory.

Consequences and Significance

The encounter confirms that Nissle’s attack on Luc was intentional, and that the demons were using the Hero’s vulnerability to draw Theo into danger. It also shows that the object recovered by Luvel had helped expose Theo’s romantic connection to Luc, even though the exact nature of the trinket remains unspecified. Nissle’s death removes the demon who came to kill Theo, but Malthios’s intervention introduces a different cost: Theo has once again felt the violence of their shared body from within.

That cost matters because Theo asks whether Malthios is sure he is still all right with killing demons. The question follows the blood on their hands and Malthios’s observation that both demons and humans bleed the same color. The scene therefore holds two truths together: Malthios protects Theo by killing an attacker, yet the act unsettles Theo rather than resolving his unease about killing. Nissle’s failed ambush becomes a sharp instance of the conflict at the center of their coexistence—Malthios can defend the host he loves, but Theo must live with the bodily and moral aftermath of that defense.